high-grossing movies like Demon Slayer: Mugen Train to One Piece’s live-action success outside of just anime fans. And experts don’t expect these trends to fall anytime soon. Anime’s future looks bright with big-name companies around the globe pulling in resources to provide more backing for shows, merchandise, and pop-up shops down the line.
What started out as a niche hobby has ballooned into a marketable commodity that has numerous companies like Netflix and Crunchyroll doubling down on providing more opportunities for more licensed shows to promote on their platform. Anime and manga have become much more recognizable, even serving as a gateway to break out South Korean webtoons and Chinese donghua to an overseas fanbase, ushering in a wave of new for these mediums. Chugong’s Solo Leveling is a great example of that, showcasing that a manhwa’s style of storytelling can succeed in popularity as an anime.
Anime’s Potential is on a Growth Surge as it Expands Outside of Japan
Suring Comic Book Notoriety Even in the West Despite Recent Resurgence
Superheroes are a widely known favorite in the US, and after a few years of hero burnout, comic books are starting to see a resurgence again in light of the pandemic and accessibility. According to Market.us Scoop, the market value for comic books had reached $17.1 billion in 2024, and projections for the future estimate it to rise to approximately $28.7 billion in the next decade.
Contributing to this is a renewed interest in the many types of heroes, villains, and stories that exist in Marvel, DC, and publishers like Dark Horse. Marvel Rivals is one example of generating attention by showcasing lesser-known titles or more accurate representations of comic book characters. While the digital landscape has lent credence to making comic books more accessible for readers, the report also points out that physical copies are the main increasing denominator in comics’ market value, with digital versions remaining steadily increasing at lower numbers.
DC Comics Gains Ground As Marvel's Market Share Dipped Last Quarter: Report
DC Comics is officially gaining ground, with its market share rising as Marvel’s share dips once again, signaling a dramatic shift in the industry.
Likewise, this trend has expanded to manga, webtoons, and light novels. Most notably seen in light of the lockdown during the pandemic, interest in the anime genre broke out in popularity as more people at home began to tune in for something new to watch. Streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu likely included more anime in their catalog to add more diversity and range for the many people who were then stuck at home with little else to do, and this bold decision paid off in spades years down the line.
Anime Becomes the Newest Gold Mine For Companies Around the Globe
Fans Will Only Reap the Benefits of More Eyes on Anime’s Future Prospects
Whereas comics made $17.1 billion in 2024, anime long sured it after the global market value hit $31.2 billion in 2023, according to a Financial Times report. When coupling together the country’s exported content, ranging anywhere from gaming to movies and animation, Japan’s overseas sales have just about tripled in the last decade at an estimated ¥5.8 trillion (or approximately $40.2 billion). What’s more is that these sales are only increasing; experts theorize that anime’s market value will double by 2030, and sales will push past ¥20 trillion (or $138 billion).
The future for anime has never been greater as companies globally all look into ways to expand the market margins more for themselves and likewise feed into consumer needs. Financial Times reports that companies like Crunchyroll and Blackstone are looking into ways to make the medium more accessible and diverse. Blackstone, now labeled as Amutus, bought out a business that included a popular manga publisher and distributor that could be outsourced to produce future anime as newly collected IPs. Both aforementioned companies are also looking into ways to provide lawfully sourced digital stores, so fans don’t resort to pirating websites.
Content owners aren’t just looking to profit off their own stash either. Toho’s head of anime states that if content is only monopolised by one platform, it has a lesser chance of being seen and therefore doesn’t hold as much value. By outsourcing and working together with streaming services and animation studios, Japan and its companies are hoping that these collaborations can only boost anime’s benefit by providing accessibility to shows and chapters as well as theme parks, pop-up shops, and most importantly, merchandise being vendored through these sites to the country’s infrastructure.
“The export value of the [anime and manga] content industry is bigger than the steel, petrochemicals, and semiconductor sectors.”
- Minoru Kiuchi, Japan’s Economic Security Minister. Anime and Manga Strategy
Despite Anime’s Rising Success, Japan is Still Lacking Key Components
Workplace Conditions, Pirating, and Rising Competition are Ongoing Issues Yet to be Solved
As profitable as anime has been, the Financial Times has conceded that it isn’t doing as well as it should for the country it originated from. Many of those much-needed resources aren’t trickling down to where it would benefit the rising medium most. The cost per episode can run the animation studio about ¥20 million (or $140,000), and with anime’s rise in success and therefore demand, workplace conditions for artists, animators, and voice actors have become increasingly stressful and exploitative.
AI has been promoted as a resolution for streamlining many of the more tedious and labor-intensive work, much to the detriment of the companies now resorting to that. Not all anime fans are yet onboard for using technology as a way to replace hard-working artists in their craft.
“Japanese companies and creators have not benefited sufficiently from overseas expansion. Both market growth and equitable returns remain key challenges.”
- Hiroyuki Karasawa, General Manager of Consumer Business at Mitsubishi Corporation
Companies in Japan have already proven that they are willing to crack down on pirating websites through legal action, with MangaDex serving as the latest example. While this move has resulted in valuable IPs now lost from one of the internet’s most accessible websites, higher-ups hope that it’ll reroute readers to more legitimate resources. Japan has also acknowledged that South Korea and China are rising in competition as legitimate avenues for anime fans to seek out alternatives while waiting for their favorite series between seasons.
China Is Edging In on Japan's Anime Monopoly, And Now South Korea Is About to the Competition
China has recently released a ton of amazing donghua, but Japan also needs to watch out for South Korea and their anime plans.
Although the industry is still facing challenges on how to profit appropriately, anime has entered an all-new golden age with series becoming more accessible than ever, reaching a broader range of fans who aren’t just located in Japan. And while comic books aren’t quite on the level of manga, it’s astounding that the physical medium continues to outshine digital accessibility in this day and age. What’s started out as a niche interest has now evolved into respectable hobbies that are recognized daily in the mainstream and by reputable companies that have the power to push these mediums to the forefront.
